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Does it Really Matter if Wonder Woman is Bi?

There has been a lot of talk lately about whether or not Wonder Woman is bisexual and it seems to be upsetting a lot of people. First off, though, there is really no doubt; current Wonder Woman author Greg Rucka has been pretty clear in interviews that she is bi and in issue 12 when Steve Trevor asks her if there was ever “someone… important” in her life before she left Themyscira, she tells him “Kasia. Her name is Kasia.” Pretty clear there.

But really, who cares? Does it diminish her in any way? Does it invalidate any of the deeds she has done? No. Not at all. I admit that there have been times that I found the sudden reveal of a character as gay or bisexual has been poorly done and illogical (hello, Iceman), but in the case of Wonder Woman, it just makes sense.

Prior to Steve’s arrival on Themyscira, Diana’s options for a male romantic partner were rather non-existent. It is pretty much impossible to believe that she would never find herself drawn to one of the other amazons, especially when they are all engaged in relationships around her. She doesn’t grow up with any sense that there is anything wrong with women loving each other, so why should she hesitate, especially given that this is such an important (if often overlooked) aspect of her character? Diana is someone with a great deal of love within her. It is very popular these days to show her as the sword-wielding warrior princess, but much more important than her martial ability is her capacity for love. It’s something that sets her apart from other heroes, who are almost never allowed to show strong emotions to any but their closest friends and family.

My absolute favourite quote from Wonder Woman is “We have a saying, my people. ‘Don’t kill if you can wound, don’t wound if you can subdue, don’t subdue if you can pacify, and don’t raise your hand at all until you’ve first extended it.'” That to me, is Wonder Woman in a nutshell and I wish we could focus on that more than her fighting, at least for a little while. Fortunately, Rucka seems to be doing that, which is why Wonder Woman is actually one of my top comics at the moment.

It’s easy to write her bisexuality off as “PC garbage,” but it really isn’t. For Wonder Woman at least, this is a logical expression of the character and her history. I think that instead of arguing over something so trivial (which probably isn’t so trivial for LGBTQ readers who can now have a major character to identify with), how about we learn a little bit from her and try our hand at loving people more?